Monday, October 10, 2011

Charmed Pencil Pouch Tutorial and an Etsy Shop!

This is probably my favorite kind of sewing. Sewing clothes is great but, usually much more difficult and large scale. Sewing accessories like these pouches gives you the opportunity to really get creative with colors. And the added charm is just that; added charm. These make great gifts for virtually anyone. With the right fabric (maybe some upcycled leather or tweed) and the right charm (they have compasses, and books, and other manly-ish ones) it could even be a great gift for a guy.

Let's get started, shall we?

Materials:

Scrap Fabric

Zipper

(10" or longer)

One sheet of Felt

(9" x 12")

Charms

(Found in the beading section of Hobby Lobby)

Tutorial:

Cut your fabric into to two 9.5" x 3.5" rectangles.

Cut your sheet of felt in half and lay a section of fabric on each.

Now for some quilting fun! Sew some straight lines (or another design) down the length of your fabric.

Now for the zipper. Don't let this part scare you! It's not as hard as you might think. You don't need a special zipper foot. Just your regular old presser foot will do.

Lay one section of fabric down right side up. Lay the zipper face down and pin down as shown:

Sew with about a 1/4" inseam.

Flip the zipper over and sew a quick top stitch if you like.

Lay this piece right side up

and then lay down the other section of fabric face down and pin as shown:

Stitch with a 1/4 inch inseam and again finish with a top stitch.

Pin the fabric right sides together

and sew straight across the bottom.

Fold the pouch so that the zipper is right on top of the seam you just sewed.

Sew along the short ends of the pouch.

Cut off any extra material.

Turn it right side out and use an iron to help shape it. Add a little charm if you like and you're all done!

A spiffy little pencil pouch to give as a gift or just keep for yourself (;

Throw it in your bag/purse/backpack and be on your way.

...

Thanks to all of you who supported me in the idea of opening an Etsy shop (in this post). I truly appreciate each and every kind word. I finally did it! You can find my shop here. I'm not expecting to have many items in stock at one time, but I figured I would just add things as I go.

Here are the first additions to the shop! Click the pic for the link to the listing (:

I've been wanting to make one of these for awhile (found another tutorial) but they said that I needed a special zipper foot and I don't have one. Your tutorial is easier and something that I can do on my 1945 Singer. I am now a follower. Thanks for sharing!

Found this on Pinterest a few days ago. This tutorial is awesome!! Just finished making this pouch, with a few alterations. I changed the dimensions to 9" by 5" to better use the whole piece of felt with minimal scraps, and because I have LOTS of writing utensils. In retrospect, I would use a serger or zig zag stitch for the bottom seam. The fabric there is fraying a lot. Thanks for writing this. :-)

Thanks for making the dimensions of this a no-brainer! :) I had this pinned to my "purse/pouch inspiration" pinterest board for some time... and just turned out two super-cute teacher gifts in record time! :) Thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks for this wonderful tutorial :) I made one for a friend of mine who loves pens and she is delighted with it. Instead of making straight lines with the machine, I just went wild and made a crazy circle, lines, pattern. It turned out beautiful :) I am suere I will be making more :)

I pinned this and I made this today....and it's turned out sooo well!! Thank you thank you tons :) and your tutorial is very nice and easy to follow. I did not have any charms but did have a couple of inexpensive charm earrings at hand which did just fine! I love the way my pouch looks and it's all thanx to you.